Chinese technology company ZTE is at the helm of the global broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) market, scoring a 16 percent share.
The lead, according to ZTE, is attributed to the growing Asian market. The company has also made inroads into Africa.
In the third quarter of 2012, the company shipped 26.6 million devices — including telephones, routers, switches, residential gateways (RG), set-top boxes and fixed mobile convergence products — mostly to the Asian market in which it has a dominant presence.
Most of the Internet modems used in African countries are manufactured by Huawei and ZTE, giving them the largest share of the broadband modem market.
ABI Research puts Huawei in the lead in broadband modem shipments globally, though the customer premises equipment sector holds more than just broadband modem sticks.
Over 49 million mobile broadband modems were shipped in PC and consumer electronics devices worldwide during the first half of 2012, while USB continued to lead all modem types with 62 percent shipment share, volumes are soft at a time when aftermarket PC upgrades should be accelerating.
According to ABI Research, ZTE and Huawei still face challenges penetrating the North American market as the United States had earlier declared that the two are not “free of state influence”, while cautioning its citizens over doing business with the two. Experts suggest this dealt blow to ZTE as it eyed the North American market.
